Experts predict the national pension fund will begin to run a deficit from the year 2041 and completely run dry by 2055, two years earlier than initially projected.

An expert committee dedicated to estimating pension-related finances issued the grim outlook on Friday, based on the current pace and in the absence of reforms. It is their fifth such projection that has been released every five years since 2003.

According to the assessment, the existing pension system, assuming that it maintains its current structure, will see more revenue than expenditure for the next 17 years or so. Funds currently at 915 trillion won are expected to peak at around one-thousand-755 trillion won in 2040.

However from the following year, expenses will outpace revenue and the pension fund will likely dry up by 2055, two years faster than the previous estimate issued in 2018.

The latest prediction factors in population and the economy but compared to five years ago, the outlook has become more grim due to an aging society and worse-off macro economic conditions.